Posted
by
Soulskill
on Friday October 19, 2012 @03:55PM
from the much-cooler-than-using-regular-tweezers dept.

MTorrice writes "A beam of electrons can pick up and carry nanoparticles, according to a new study (abstract). The so-called electronic tweezers could help scientists in diverse tasks, such as building up new materials nanoparticle-by-nanoparticle, and measuring the forces between nanoparticles and living cells, the researchers say. In the past, scientists have manipulated microsized particles, including single cells, using a beam of laser light called optical tweezers. But the force required to trap a particle with optical tweezers increases as the particle gets smaller, making grappling with nanoparticles difficult. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory developed an alternative to optical tweezers by modifying a transmission electron microscope, which produces images by passing a stream of electrons through a sample."
Reader Sven-Erik adds news of a tractor beam generated with laser light that can pull microscopic particles over distances of 30 micrometers (abstract).

I', sorry, that will require a technology capable of manipulating object 3 to 5 orders of magnitude smaller. No, these tools should be just about right to manipulate the politician's brain or a lawyer sense of honesty.

One of the problems facing nanobot designers is the "sticky fingers" problem. If a nanobot were able to pick up, say, a carbon atom it would be able to move it, but getting it to let go of the carbon atom afterwards is a non-trivial problem. The act of "picking up" the carbon atom makes the carbon atom part of the nanobot, in essence.

Then again, I doubt that this technology can be miniaturized enough to be used in this connection - but if it can, it would permit a nanobot to move an individual atom/molec

You want to create a reaction surface that can change its charge (i.e. stickiness) in the same way that hemoglobin can pick up oxygen or carbon dioxide in one place and release it in another. There should be all kinds of mechanisms including local ph that would allow you to perform the tasks you describe.

I always wonder if it is possible to make an electron laser: a device which spits out electrons all with the same phase and wavelength, like a normal laser does with photons. Is that possible? Why/why not?